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The Cyprus Missile Crisis came to worldwide media attention between early 1997 and late 1998 as a tense and rapidly escalating political standoff between the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Turkey. The confrontation was sparked by Cypriot plans to install two powerful Russian-made S-300 air-defence missile sites on their territory, provoking Turkey into threatening an attack or even all-out war if the missiles were not returned to Russia. The crisis effectively ended in December 1998 with the decision of the Cypriot government to transfer the S-300s to Crete, in exchange for alternative weapons from Greece. ==Prelude to the crisis== As of 1995, the Cypriot government had reportedly begun conceptualisation and planning of an integrated air-defence solution to defend the airspace of the Republic of Cyprus, which according to local press reports, was sustaining near daily airspace violations by the Turkish Air Force. Also, the recent sale of ATACMS long-range artillery rockets to Turkey were perceived as a threat by the Cypriots, which evidently determined that it had no means of defence, should these weapons be fired from the southern Turkish coast into the unoccupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus. On 3 January 1997, an unnamed defence source leaked information to the Cypriot media regarding the purchase of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, the story was picked up by Reuters〔"Cyprus close to buying Russian missiles", Fri, 3 Jan 1997, Reuters〕 and the Cyprus News Agency,〔"Cyprus to buy Russian surface-to-air missiles" on 4 Jan 1997 by CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY〕 amongst others. The leak reported that the date for the conclusion of the sale between Russia and Cyprus for surface-to-air missile systems would be 4 January 1997.〔 On 5 January 1997, Cypriot Foreign Minister Alekos Michaelides announced to the world media that the government had acquired an air-defence capability in the form of Russian-made S-300 air-defence missiles and associated radars. At this stage, details were kept vague, and the media seized upon rumours, ranging from claimed numbers of missiles and capability, to wildly differing claims of the price for the purchase. On the same day, government spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides made a statement in which he remarked that the Cyprus government had the "legitimate right to enhance its "defence capabilities", and also said that the weapons purchase was "proportional" to the Turkish military build-up in the north of the island. Concurrently, Turkish Defence Minister Turhan Tayan was reported in Turkey as saying that the action would "undermine peace in the region". 〔"Cyprus missile buy could shift military balance" on Sun, 5 Jan 1997 by Michele Kambas, Reuters〕 Russia's main defence export agency, Rosvooruzheniye, also added its comment to the media frenzy, when spokesman Valery Pogrebenkov stated that the sale of S-300 missiles to Cyprus would not adversely affect the balance of power in the region, as the weapons were "purely defensive".〔"Russian arms exporter hails Cyprus missile deal on Sun", 5 Jan 1999 by Andrei Shukshin for Reuters〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cyprus Missile Crisis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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